Billy Donovan
Billy Donovan
William John Donovan, Jr.is an American professional basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. He previously spent 19 seasons at the University of Florida, where his Florida Gators men's basketball teams won two NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships in 2006 and 2007. Donovan has more wins than any other coach in the history of the Florida basketball program, and he coached the Gators to more NCAA tournament appearances,...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth30 May 1965
CityRockville Centre, NY
Sometimes it's crazy what these games come down to. It's a play here, a bounce of the ball there. I've been on both sides of it.
Sometimes, it's about players. The makeup of these guys, they've come into the season and played unselfish. We're fortunate to be 12-0 but at the same time have done the things that we needed to do offensively and defensively to win those games.
Self-inflicted wounds, you know. It was all just self-inflicted.
Self-inflicted wounds. I knew it was going to be this kind of a game. I told our team we're going to have to grind it out and win ugly.
Self-inflicted wounds. All just self-inflicted. We contributed to them getting back in the game with our mental errors.
Rondo is one of the smartest point guards there is.
After practice, he'll thank me three or four times before we leave the gym.
Someone told me his comments after the game was he put blame on himself. That's wrong. If anything I hold myself more accountable than I would hold him. The only thing I told him in that situation is not get ahead of himself and say, I probably should have called time out. That's probably what we needed to do. But hopefully next time he'll be able to learn.
Actually it's going to start next year. It's a five for one. We've got you guys coming here five times and then we'll come back and play you guys there.
I derive a lot of pleasure watching these kids play. We don't have guys in the locker room talking about not scoring enough points or not getting enough shots. They play the right way. They really do.
I don't think that we have played against anyone with his size and athletic ability. He is very impressive because he is so skilled. He is a good passer which is impressive for a guy who is 7-foot-2. He runs, he catches and he alters shots. You just don't see a lot of players in college basketball like him. This will be a unique game for us to play against a guy like him.
I'd say, right now, that he's not going to play. I don't know how well his treatment is going to go, and I don't know how well he's going to respond. He's very sore.
I'd say right now he's not going to play. I don't know how his treatment is going to go and how well he's going to respond. He was very, very sore (Sunday) morning. He came in several times for treatment. ... He's not capable of playing right now.
I don't think basketball has ever been an afterthought, at least since I've been here. In the Southeast, in terms of enthusiasm and excitement, it's for football. In Kentucky and Indiana, it's for basketball. I understand that and Billy Donovan isn't changing that culture. ... But I think our program has gotten respect.